Hoodie of Joy
by HellRaiserAlchemist
Summary: L4D2 The chopper crashed, they were stranded--what they found was more than they expected. Slight-AU, presence of OC...un-betaed. Rated for Nick's mouth. Focus on Nick and Ellis.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Hoodie of Joy

**Author: **C'est moi~

**Characters: **All L4D2 survivours, OCs and mass zombies; mentions of L4D1 survivours in later chapters.

**Rating & Warnings: **PG-13 for this chapter—rated for Nick's mouth and cynicism; Warnings include fail attention span on the author's part and presence of OC.

**Summary: **The chopper crashed, they were stranded—what they found was more than they expected.

**AN: **I…I honestly have no idea. There are currently three parts. [word count: 500]

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By the river, a small child hides in the reeds. He watches these foreigners--these strange, vividly coloured people. One is pale, another is tan; two are dark, but still not quite to his liking. The pale one stands tall next to the tan one; the tan one seems to speak too much…both are male. The taller of the dark ones is male--he keeps an exasperated look on the tan one. The more petite of the dark pair is female and, while she is indeed smiling, she looks vaguely annoyed by the talking.

The child crawls a bit, staying low to the ground, staying hidden in the shadows. He cringes when a thick, not-quite-a-branch, twig snaps under his hand and promptly glues his body to the bank.

The four stop, looking for the source of the sound. The tan one tries to shrug it off, but his pale companion finds the source almost immediately.

"Ellis, shut the Hell up...there's a kid over there."

Three sets of eyes follow his and the child presses further to the ground, trying to blend in; it's useless though--he's been found out.

The female blinks, voice curious, "Y'know...this is kind of odd--it's the first kid we've seen since the infection broke out...."

"I heard the 'fection don't 'fect the younguns." The tan one--Ellis, yes?- offered, edging towards him and kneeling a few feet away, "Hey...c'mon, kiddo, we ain't gonna bite." He was promptly tugged back by the pale man.

"We don't know that it won't, now get back here, Overalls."

"Aw, c'mon Nick. Look, he's scared! If he was gonna attack he woulda by now, right?"

Nick gave him a look that could kill, "Ellis...I swear if you even consider picking it up--"

"He's got a gender, Nick."

"Ellis, it looks like a fucking miniature Hunter! You aren't touching it!" The man didn't bother correcting himself. Ellis tugged away and in a step much bolder than before, closed the distance and kneeled once more, holding his arms open.

The child kept flat for a moment, watching warily. He'd seen so many of his own kind killed--killed with those odd gray things attached to the tan one's back. Still, he slowly raised back to his hands and knees...and crawled into the offered arms. They immediately closed around him and initial panic turned to a feeling of warmth and security...an odd feeling, but he decided he liked it and promptly curled up. He let out a pleased purr and snuggled into the man's arms.

"See, Nick? He's totally harmless! He's kinda cute too!" Bright blue eyes turned to the group, hopeful, "Can we keep him? Please, please, pleeease?" All the while he'd never let go of the mass of purring delight in his arms.

The other three shared a look. This was going to be a long trip...more so now that they had a small, infected child to watch over on top of keeping Ellis focused for more than five minutes.

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Ha. Shame? What is that? Gawd...I'm sorry PoT readers orz I swear I'll get those updated one day...most of the things I'm posting now are written on whim or by someone in an LJ comm beating me with a prod going "LOOKIE, PROMPT" orz


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **…Don't ask, don't tell =D? No, kidding, um…so the name was actually my brother's idea, kudo points to anyone who gets it =3 Hint: L4D1…I totally just gave it away but oh well. [Word Count: 655] I wrote this as I was waking up, so please pardon/point out errors orz

Also, to those who reviewed, thank you :3 I kind of thought the rating should go up, especially since Nick's mouth knows no bounds. ...nopunintended. Anywho, please enjoy. Ah...I think it was SoulKeeper that pointed out the last chapter was short and I figured I should apologize, too -sweatdrop- First chapters are never my forte and I'm especially horrible with new fandoms. This is only the second piece I've written for L4D2, and the first that's been posted in multiple places. (The other place is in the nickxellis comm on LJ under hell13raiser :3) Anywho...part two!

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The ride across the river proved to be the calmest point thus far. Calling the boat had caused a hoard to come—a hoard that ignored Ellis like the plague, ironically enough. Nick was still glaring at him and trying desperately to get the remains of a Boomer's puke out of his hair; the mechanic wasn't paying attention to any of them.

Ever since he'd found the small Hunter, he hadn't put it down once; the Infected didn't mind. At first it was content staying curled up in Ellis' arms, hood drawn and eyes surveying curiously from his new height. When the noise of the boat started, his hands had gone to cover his ears for the briefest of moments-a moment where the other three drew a sharp breath, expecting it to attack…instead it curled up tighter and made a low whine until its ears adjusted to the noise.

Ellis had kept one arm curled around the child, wielding his magnum for once. The miracle only lasted a few minutes, as the child found it could latch onto his back in something that vaguely reminded the other three of a koala—the mechanic hadn't noticed and merely grinned, re-holstered his magnum and took up a spare rifle that had been on a picnic table.

The Hunter had kept latched to Ellis' back, watching in a curious manner as the young man picked off masses of Infected from his friends. The only thing that attempted to go for the mechanic was a Smoker; at the first sign of the flying appendage, however, a primal instinct kicked in and the Hunter pounced at it, tiny claws and fangs sinking into the tongue, pinning it to the ground. Ellis whirled around at the startled shriek from the Smoker and delivered a single bullet between its eyes before picking his new tag-along up once more. Nothing else attempted to touch him afterwards.

And there they were, sitting warily in the boat as it made the slow trip across the river. Ellis had the Hunter in his lap once more and it was _purring_ again, Nick noted with a slight annoyance. He was eventually drawn out of his thoughts-along with everyone else- by Ellis' voice.

"So, guys…been thinkin'—"

"Careful you don't hurt yourself." Nick mumbled, earning a sharp kick from his left and sent Rochelle a dark glare.

"Lil' guy needs a name. Can I call him Hunter?" The blue eyes sparkled, despite the immediate rejection all three gave; he merely put out a pout, "Why not?"

"Ellis, think about what you just said, please." The conman rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to groan, "Who usually spots specials first?"

"Me an' Ro?"

"Ro and me." Nick corrected, despite knowing it was useless, before continuing, "Now…what likes you the most?"

"…Hunters?"

"By God, he does have a brain!" The sarcasm was thick and Rochelle gave him another kick, taking an easier tone as Ellis gave them a confused look.

"What he meant…is if you name him Hunter, we might think you're talking about one of the grown ones."

"Kieve—"

"No."

"Well then _you_ name 'im." Ellis stuck his tongue out, going back to hugging the small mass in his lap.

Nick twitched and said the first thing that came to mind, "William, there, now shut the Hell up—"

"Billy! Aw, man, that's _perfect_!"

Rochelle smiled and Nick looked rightly annoyed, "I said William, genius."

"Nicholas." Coach finally spoke up, his voice firm and commanding. The conman shot him a two second look, acknowledged the fact the man was giving him a glare to shut up and quickly listened. Coach had been in a testier mood than he was himself since Ellis had picked up the little Hunter. They were still waiting for the thing to turn and rip the mechanic's throat out; Ellis, on the other hand, was cooing to the newly named bundle. Billy it was.

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**Post AN:** And, just because, part 3 is up, too!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **These are not the droids you are looking for--...I mean uh, move along :3[Word Count: 1000]

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When the boat finally stilled, Ellis was the first one out, easily jumping the railing to the walkway before the gate opened itself. The Hunter-Billy- found that he rather liked being attached to Ellis' front and repeated his earlier Koala-like attachment; tiny arms curled over Ellis' shoulders, hand clutching at the shirt fabric over his shoulders and legs wound tight around his torso. The mechanic hardly noticed, aside from noting he could now easily get to the weapons strapped on his back without hurting the kid. He didn't notice Nick glaring at his back and if he did, he chose not to acknowledge it.

Billy noticed at the very least and kept a wary eye on the conman from over his new guardian's shoulder, all the while doing his best to stay out of the way whenever Ellis grabbed for another weapon or more supplies. They quickly learned that the child had no problem holding the few extra shots of adrenaline and half-empty bottle of pills they found. He also had something of an ability in finding the extras and was soon prowling next to Ellis' leg, running ahead only to pounce at a bottle of pills, batting it around in a curious manner before stuffing it in the pouch of his hoodie as he'd been shown and returning to the mechanic's side. Ellis, to say the very least, was ecstatic and gave the child a fond pat on the head each time he returned.

The adventure through the plank countryside was…mostly eventless. There was mass relief when the rumble of a Tank was nowhere to be found, and the choking sobs of a Witch were heard in the distance but never pinpointed. Then came the safe room. It hadn't taken long to find the dying lights, they were just enough to signal the room…in a drainage pipe. Nick's complexion paled considerably and he stopped cold, "You have _got_ to be shitting me."

Ellis looked over his shoulder and Billy plopped down by his leg in an exhausted manner, just outside the saferoom, "'Bout what?"

"It's a sewage pipe!" The mechanic gave him a looked that more or less said 'yeah, so?' and Nick twitched, "We aren't staying there. Christ, Coach, tell me we aren't staying there."

"You three are." The large man said in a dry manner. He was already reloading his shotgun, "Ro and I saw a house a bit further down. You an' Ellis stay here with the kid."

Ellis tilted his head scratching just below his cap, "Ya sure y'don't wanna take 'im with ya? He's pretty damn good at findin' stuff."

"Why can't we all go to the damn house?!" Nick seemed to miss the rest of the conversation, still trying desperately to stay out of the pipe.

"Because I don't know if it's safe yet." Coach gave him a finalizing look, "Now. You and Ellis keep an eye out and on each other. We'll be back soon if it's not safe; if it is, I'll come back for you both." Nick looked ready to protest further, but the older man cut off with a warning tone, "Nick…get your ass in the safe house." That being said, he turned and led Rochelle off.

"Safe my ass." Nick mumbled once they were a good deal away and edged towards the pipe. Ellis grinned, picked Billy up and gave Nick a push the rest of the way through the door before pulling it closed.

"C'mon, Nick, it ain't that bad. 'Least the floor's solid, right?"

Nick shot him a dark glare and settled in the driest corner he could find. Billy wiggled his way out of Ellis hold and onto the low table and began emptying the contents from his hoodie, batting curiously at the pill bottles once more. Ellis watched a moment before he settled next to Nick, keeping his voice down, "Y'alright?"

He'd grown used to Nick cringing over his accent and merely smiled when he did this time. The mechanic leaned over, nuzzling at the older man's neck, "C'mon, smile for me?"

"Give me one damn reason to smile in a sewage pipe." Nick mumbled darkly.

"I can give ya three." Ellis offered with a cheeky grin, crawling his way into the man's lap.

Nick regarded him a moment, before a natural smirk crossed his features, "Don't suppose I can convince you to skip one and two?"

Ellis shrugged, cheeky grin still in place, "We got until Coach and Ro get back…I'm all for skippin' foreplay, Mr. Gamblin' Man." That being said, he gave Nick's suit a sharp tug, just enough to pull the jacket loose without snapping the buttons off completely and began working on the blue undershirt. He felt rough hands slide under his shirt, up his sides and the mechanic gave a needy, throaty growl, tugging at Nick's shirt more instantly, "Skippin' one an' two means you focus on the other half, Suit."

"Aw, how cute. Overalls thinks he gets a say in the steps." Nick mumbled, the sarcasm teasing compared to its usual bite; he relented all the same, hands leaving the shirt and moving to fight with the coveralls tied at the younger's waist. He'd barely managed to get the tie undone before there was a growl from the corner and a mass of black and blue was suddenly lodged between them.

Ellis gave a little yelp of surprise; Nick merely glared death and daggers at the child as it latched insistently on Ellis.

"M-mine." He managed to get out in an unsteady voice that was still a close resemblance of a growl. Before Nick could really get past processing the protective claim, Ellis cut him off with a delighted crow and hugged on the Hunter.

"Aw, lookit, Nick! He _can_ talk! Can ya say our names, too? C'mon try it—Ellis and Nick--." If there was anymore, Nick hardly heard it. His focus was on Billy; plotting how to get rid of the brat without alerting Ellis.

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**Post AN:** Dadida~...Yeah orz part 4 will be cranked out eventually! Gotta go attack brother with ideas.


End file.
